GERB Loses One Percentage Point of Electoral Support, Keeps the Lead - Mediana Poll

GERB Loses One Percentage Point of Electoral Support, Keeps the Lead - Mediana Poll

Sofia, September 12 (BTA) - The ruling GERB Party has lost one percentage point of its electoral support compared to July but still has a lead of 3.5 percentage points on its main opponent, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Mediana found in a nationally representative poll among 1,006 Bulgarians aged 18 or over, taken on September 1-8.

If parliamentary elections were held today, GERB would poll 23.6 per cent of the vote, BSP for Bulgaria 20.1 per cent, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) 9 per cent, and United Patriots 6.6 per cent. Of the extraparliamentary forces, the ABV Party would get 2.1 per cent, the Democratic Bulgaria coalition 2 per cent, and the Volya Party 1.8 per cent.

The threshold for winning seats in Parliament is 4 per cent.

The sociologists said the recent government crisis and frictions between two of the United Patriots leaders - Valeri Simeonov and Volen Siderov - hit the United Patriots coalition (VMRO, NFSB and Ataka) worst, so it lost over 3 percentage points of its electoral potential in a month. The MRF solidified its position as the third most influential political force, while Lyutvi Mestan's DOST Party does not command large support among the Bulgarian ethnic Turks. A possible party founded by showman Slavi Trifonov could win 4.6 per cent of all votes.

Mediana commented that this picture of relative political stability could be misleading. A total of 55 per cent of respondents say they might vote for as yet non-existent parties, of Slavi Trifonov and of President Rumen Radev. Those voters seem to be looking for a political alternative outside the major players and their conduct at election time is unpredictable, according to the analysts. Asked "Are you going to vote for any of the following parties?", 29.3 per cent opt for a possible party founded by Trifonov and 41.8 per cent would vote for a possible party led by Radev.

The events of the past month - a tragic bus crash, three ministerial resignations and differences within the United Patriots - have eroded the reputation of all representatives of the power holders (except Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova). Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's approval rating slid 6 percentage points from July to 36 per cent, Ataka leader Volen Siderov and Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev lost 5 percentage points each, and GERB floor leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov lost 3 percentage points to 18 per cent.

President Rumen Radev has the highest approval rating of 66 per cent (down by 3 percentage points from July), followed by Fandakova with 49 per cent (unchanged since July).

The cabinet scored 3.29 points on a scale of 2 to 6, where 2 is "poor" and 6 is "excellent".